I Failed You
by CynicalArchangel
Summary: During the fight to get Sasuke back, Naruto discovers something about himself... and the bone-user Kimimaro.


_**I Failed You**_

… _Where was he? Sasuke…_

In the almost-darkness of the battlefield, Naruto Uzumaki felt overpowered. Things went terribly wrong… they weren't supposed to happen this way, and now he was trapped. Little chakra, little hope… and a waning rationality as the sun began to set behind the clouds.

He didn't even know where he was.

_Why did you leave…? I thought we were friends… I wanted… I wanted more than anything to be close to you…_

Across from him stood the last ninja barring him from saving his best friend. White hair, dark eyes, and an outfit similar to the snake Orochimaru's. It made him angry… but at the same time he was afraid. He was afraid he would fail those few people close to him.

_*Please… please Naruto… bring him back! Please bring him back, I know you can!*_

He could hear Sakura pleading with him in the back of his mind… the same words she used when he and the others left the village to find the Uchiha. But now there was only him. Choji's chakra signature had disappeared; Neji's not long after… Kiba and Shikamaru had fallen away just short of him reaching the field where he now stood.

He didn't expect any help. But he didn't want any either. His fists clenched at his sides and he made the familiar motions; shadow clones appearing all around the both of them in a mass-circle. He couldn't count how many he made, and from the look of the other, he couldn't either.

But he also didn't seem to care.

_*Go, Naruto! You're the only one who can save him. Leave this one to me.*_

'Neji…' His eyes became watery and unfocused. Where his friends dead now because of him? Because he wanted Sasuke back so badly… He pushed back the tears with a growl. 'I won't lose to him! I'll… I'll bring Sasuke back…!' His determination allowed him to hold the clones a lot longer than he should have.

The white-haired ninja wore no expression at all when the hundreds of clones created by the Jinchuuriki converged on him all at once… and still nothing when at the same time all were destroyed. The blond's eyes widened considerably…bloody red appearing dazed and angry at the same time.

"And then there was one." The man murmured, eyes trailing to the boy in a predatorial manner.

'Damn… he's really good. Even with all those shadow clones not a single blow landed.' He thought. Behind the ninja, the container holding his only reason to be here began to hiss. Kimimaro released a soft breath.

"It's almost time… the first step of Orochimaru-sama's ambition…"

"…!"

Naruto's chest tightened and he watched in an almost morbid fascination… as his best friend emerged from the container looking nothing like Sasuke Uchiha. But as quickly as he had broken free, the transformation faded and the stoic nin was no longer the demented-looking monster.

"S-Sasuke…" He tried, but when he received no response, "Sasuke what the hell are you doing with these guys?! Let's head back! Come on!"

The response to that startled him badly. Sasuke had begun to laugh. It was eerie… almost as if his friend had gone mad…

"Sasuke… Sasuke can you hear me damnit?!" He knew he could.

Naruto wasn't as stupid as he led others to believe and he knew that his friend could hear him perfectly well. He was ignoring him. When Sasuke moved to leave, Naruto attempted to follow. Before he could take a step however, a shout of 'Leaf Spinning Wind!!' caught his attention and he turned to see the white-haired nin fly backwards.

He twitched. 'He… he was only a few inches from me…' Green spandex now stood in the area the enemy had occupied.

Kimimaro regained his feet quickly… and sneered.

"And you are…?"

'L-Lee…' Naruto balked at the sight of the other… but still felt relieved.

"The Leaf's proud Azure Beast has reincarnated! I am Rock Lee!!" He shouted, poised and ready to attack again if necessary. And it was necessary.

Too quick for Naruto to grasp, Rock Lee was thrust back as he attempted to avoid the bone-sword that slashed through the spot he had stood in. The blond blinked before yelling out to his friend that the man used bones for his weapons.

"Don't worry! Leave him to me!"

~*~

And things went horribly wrong.

~*~

_There was so much blood… it was everywhere… the field shown black with it in the night sky, as the moon overhead cast its pale glow down onto the earth. Everything just went so horribly wrong…_

He knew Lee needed a doctor… but he couldn't move now. He was, again, the only one left to fight Kimimaro. He was supposed to go after Sasuke… but Gaara had followed his friend instead, telling him to escape and leave Lee behind.

_He couldn't. _

"I won't leave you behind…" He murmured to the unconscious form of the Taijutsu User next to him.

He was coated in blood; some fresh but most of it congealed. 'How long have we been here?' Naruto wondered absently as he tried to ignore the throbbing pain that threatened to suffocate him. He had to stay awake or they would both die.

"You have no more options." The man before him murmured. "Orochimaru-sama will have his body, and you will die…"

"I'm not done yet…!" He snarled back. The sound was winded and dry… he winced at it.

The other released a long breath. Behind him, storm clouds crackled and approached the field. Rain seemed imminent.

_* I won't lose to you here. That is not my Destiny.*_

Tan, bloody hands clenched into a fist and he released a strangled cry. White eyebrows rose as Naruto couldn't force back the tears of shame and hatred. 'I'm not strong enough to save you. I'm not strong enough to save Lee, or Gaara! I can't even save MYSELF!'

"Why am I so weak?!" He shouted, thunder roiling overhead now and accompanying his words with a sharp crack. The beginnings of rain hid his tears from anyone who would care to look.

"We are born weak."

Blue eyes shot up to stare at the other. Kimimaro only stood there; water running tiny rivulets down his form and hair. His hair tie had given way and released the long mass… it clung to his neck, back and face. But still he looked non-plussed to Naruto.

"Strength is acquired through loss and pain… misery. You'll never find a happy ending for anything, Uzumaki."

"… You know me?"

He nodded. "I listen on the battlefield; your friend called your name several times."

Naruto repressed a shiver as he forced his body to sit up better. He prepared himself for standing as he spoke.

"Naruto Uzumaki… the next Hokage." It felt strange saying that now. Bitter. "Who're you?"

The man pushed his hair away from his face as the wind began to pick up; white strands that practically glowed in the moonlight covering his eyes. He didn't see a reason not to say so now… this would be the end anyway.

"Kimimaro." He murmured.

The blond was able to stand now, but he continued to keep Lee by his side. After a moment of focusing to stay up, he looked at Kimimaro again.

"I will bring Sasuke back."

"…"

It sounded hollow. He felt… nothing from it.

_*You must always protect your most important person…*_

'Haku…?' Naruto took a step forward and stood up straighter. At least some energy was coming back. 'But why am I thinking of all these things…?' Kimimaro snorted quietly in the semi-darkness.

"Are you telling me this because you want me to know, or are you saying it because you're trying to convince yourself?"

_*I have faith in you Naruto...*_

"You're wrong."

Across from the boy, the Bone User watched him quietly. Naruto continued.

"Some people are stronger because of their hate…"

_*I live for only my sake… I love only myself and when I kill, it proves that I exist…*_

Naruto took another shaky step forward, approaching Kimimaro slowly. But the other only continued to watch with a strange sort of fascination as the blond boy quite obviously _forced _his body to move… with only his willpower.

"Some people are stronger because they feel it's their only choice…"

_*It is my Destiny to be a servant to the Head House… I cannot go against my destiny, Uzumaki...*_

Overhead, lighting lit the sky in spectacular displays of raw power and thunder boomed with such force that Lee's body twitched minutely a couple feet away. He was still unconscious and bleeding profusely.

"Some people…" He paused here and seemed to deliberate on something… before deciding to continue. "Some people do it because they don't want to be alone."

Dark eyes widened fractionally.

*Watch me! My name is Naruto Uzumaki--*

"—And I will become the next Hokage, so everyone will have to look up to me." He finished out loud.

Deep blue eyes locked with those of their enemy. He now stood only a foot away and Kimimaro could see that his left eye was bleeding, and his clothes looked ready to fall apart. He was badly beaten… there was no way this body could fight him, and win.

All the same, he watched him stand there, looking for all he was worth as if he would destroy the Bone User with only his eyes. But… there was no malice. No hate. Everything seemed strange then.

What was his purpose?

_I serve Orochimaru-sama._ The only person to acknowledge his existence, to make him feel as if he were human, was the Snake-nin who had found him as a child. But here before him was a person who suffered exactly what he had… he could see it in his eyes. Sadness, pain, loneliness, rejection… he bore the same emotional scars.

Naruto watched the conflicting emotions in the other's face as his bleeding eye finally fell closed. His whole body burned now… he wasn't sure how much longer he could stand. 'Kimimaro… he's just like me, and Gaara. That Bastard screwed him up badly… he still feels…'

"You're not alone." He murmured quietly.

The rain came down harder now. Kimimaro's eyes connected with the blonde's as they narrowed.

"Nothing you do can save me, and I will not betray Orochimaru-sama. Naruto Uzumaki… I will kill you for him."

The bitter smile that crossed his face faded when his enemy finished speaking. He knew this was how it would be… they could not be friends. From the way his movements had slowed and occasionally became jerky, he knew something was wrong with the white-haired ninja. 'Nothing you can do to save me'… he was dying, wasn't he?

Without thinking, a blood-stained hand came up to touch the center of Kimimaro's chest and Naruto's body slowly followed suit. He didn't want anyone else to die. He didn't want any more people who deserved a good life to die… and here was another person that he could not save. He was dying from something on his own. No matter how good Naruto boasted that he was, he couldn't cheat death.

Thunder roared again.

"Will it hurt? When you die…"

He could feel the other's breath hitch from both the contact and the question… but strangely enough he made no move to get away. "Yes."

Blond hair stuck to a pale chest as the teen's head lay gently against the other's collarbone.

"Another person I can't help…" He mumbled both to himself and to nobody at all.

… A pale hand came up, running down the side of his face with feather-like movements. His breath caught.

"… Why does it matter to you? I am your enemy." But the words were quiet; comforting. It sounded as if he was trying to consol the other. Maybe he was.

Naruto reached up to wrap his arms around Kimimaro's torso and released the held breath. He couldn't explain that he now considered his 'enemy' as a friend more than someone he had to fight. 'He wouldn't get it… he'll die before I could get him to understand.' But his thoughts were interrupted by cool hands that were not his own; they snaked down his waist to hold gently against his hips.

An idea struck him.

"Kimimaro?"

The taller of the two looked down with a questioning gaze. Naruto seized that opportunity to force his body onto his toes… and claim the other's mouth in a tight kiss.

~*~

Hot… suddenly things were too hot as the storm raged overhead; the worst of it upon them. But neither noticed it now… they probably never would. Torn and tattered clothes littered the rain-soaked battleground and left the two ninja bared to each other and the harsh night sky.

Kimimaro lay atop the naked and panting Jinchuuriki as three fingers worked gently in and out of his entrance. Sweat washed away in the rain but their bodies were still so warm…

"Ahhh…. ahnn…" Naruto bucked against the feeling of the thin fingers brushing his most sensitive spot. He cried out again when the other purposefully rubbed it harder.

Over him, the Bone User released soft puffs of air that were visible in the cold of their surroundings. Naruto lurched up to suck at his bottom lip before he could take another breath.

"You…" He murmured breathily.

"Please… I—" Cut off by a harsh kiss, the pale hand that had been holding tightly to Naruto's hip now flicked purposefully at a dark nipple.

The blond mewled.

"P-please…"

He was ignored again. Their lips parted with a thin trail of saliva that was cut away by the rain. That soft mouth… the one that had not long ago sword his immediate death… now played gently against his neck before a hot wet tongue lapped at his pulse-point. Naruto's eyes shot open and he bucked upwards again.

Maybe he would take pity on him now.

"Tell me why you want to save me."

Naruto sucked in an icy breath as he felt his erection twitch. Holding back was beginning to hurt…

"You're like me…" He muttered. But that was not enough for Kimimaro; the Bone User prodding viciously at his prostate before grabbing the boy's forgotten erection in his other hand and jerking harshly. "Ahhh!! I—I don't want you to die! You are like me… you're alone and you feel that you have to prove yourself to confirm your existence. You follow someone else because they are your only important person. But they aren't!"

Three fingers were removed quickly, only to be replaced by something harder and much bigger. Naruto cried out when the white-haired ninja thrust into him completely and without warning.

Kimimaro scowled. "I do what is asked of me. And who else do I have, Naruto Uzumaki?" His last words were punctuated by a swift thrust that drove him deeply into the blond boy underneath him. He paused, listening to the partially-pained gasp.

"You have me. I won't go anywhere, that's a promise."

A… promise.

Naruto released a soft squeak when Kimimaro leaned back over him and began to move inside of him again. His eyes looked strangely lighter to the blond… as if something heavy fell away. But he didn't ask. Right now, there really wasn't any room for talk; it seemed unnecessary.

Coiling tension began to build within him and his cries of pleasure grew louder. Kimimaro remained silent but for his heavy breathing as his head rested against the blond's neck. He could feel his own release coming… and something else. The muscles in his body stiffened a little. But tan hands danced patterns along the taut skin and it relaxed under those feelings.

"H-Harder…" Barely a whisper… but it had the Kaguya moving faster and slamming into the Jinchuuriki's prostate with such harsh force that he was sure if there had not been a storm, someone from a neighboring village would have heard him. "Oh… uunnn… K-Kimi… maro…"

Dark eyes shot open as a jolt of pleasure surged through his body. The sound of Naruto's ecstasy-filled voice drove him to his release quickly and he dug the fingernails of his free hand into the earth. The hand stroking the blonde's erection quickened and Naruto came with another cry of the Bone User's name.

~*~

"Uzumaki…"

Blue eyes re-opened and focused on the body hovering just slightly above his… before widening considerably. Blood dribbled down Kimimaro's chin and the beautiful purple-colored eyes now looked muddy and unfocused.

He reached up to touch his face, but stopped when the older ninja smiled.

"Maybe if it… had been earlier…."

The pale body above him suddenly jerked; Kimimaro began to cough raggedly as lines of blood pooled down onto a tan chest. Cerulean eyes teared up.

"Ki… mimaro…" The sound trailed off.

Naruto's body began to tremble before the soft sound of sobs echoed in the now-still night air. The storm had passed…

And so had Kimimaro.

~*~*~*~

This story is for Soul-Girl.


End file.
